As you can see, the markup TRU places on top of MSRP is pretty significant once you add it all up. Out of the Star Wars sets, the Droid Tri-Fighter seems to be the best value, while Luke's Landspeeder seems to be the worst, but honestly, the rest are all pretty bad. Toy Story sets seem to be a better value overall, with Woody's Roundup hitting that golden ratio of about 10 cents per piece. Woody and Buzz to the rescue is the sore spot of the group however, but since you get RC with a pullback motor, it doesn't seem so bad.
---
Permalink: http://www.fbtb.net/2009/12/15/january-2010-assortment-prices-piece-counts/

I'm a bit surprised by the $30 price tag of the Swamp Speeder. I was fully expecting it to be $40 like the Midi-Scale Falcon. With that said, I've got to agree with Ace, none of the Star Wars sets, other than the Tri-fighter, are a very good value.

Honestly... is the PPP ratio average a relevant average anymore? I mean, it was in 1995... but back then big sculpted pieces were rare, expensive customized minifigs were out of consideration, and licensing wasn't imagined. Now with sculpted parts galore (some that make the sets look really nice, others that are a bane to a builder's existence), a different minifig helmet for each star wars set, and the costs of licensing, I tend to think that the PPP Ratio is more and more irrelevant. That and the rising price of petroleum affecting the price of plastic... and oh, inflation. HMMMM...

The cost of set will now be determined by many factors, including the presence of custom elements, the licensing, the intensity of the detail on printing parts and figs, etc. We determine whether or not it is a good value. I say we throw out the ratios and just get down to details... does it look fun to build and play with, and do I want it at that price?

Jeremy/Copyright -:- FBTB member since 12 Apr 20028 years on FBTB and still a n00b

Oky Wan Kenobi wrote:Thanks for the info. Do we know what stores the exclusives are exclusive to?

unknown at this time. if i knew, i would have posted that info.

in response to jeremy, probably not relevant anymore. the hobby has evolved so much that this is just the next step. it's still a hard pill to swallow when you're used to associating a building experience with a price point for so long. and when the duration of that experience is cut in half it's bound to change your opinion of the product for the worse. i think we've accepted that prices are going up, but 2010 sw is plain redonkulous. at some point lego will learn a hard lesson about just how high they can push prices. 2010 might be it.

complain complain complain, that's what we'll be doing for the next few months. i doubt this issue is going to die anytime soon. sad thing is, i doubt lego cares much. as long as it sells, they'll keep doing what they're doing.

copyright wrote:does it look fun to build and play with, and do I want it at that price?

Sadly, even when I look at the sets that way, I have the general feeling of dissatisfaction. Aside from the battlepacks, I seem to find all of the January 2010 SW sets to be a bit underwhelming. Does anyone else feel that a some of the recent SW sets seem to be focusing too much on minifigs and not enough on the actual set designs?

yankeeken wrote:Does anyone else feel that a some of the recent SW sets seem to be focusing too much on minifigs and not enough on the actual set designs?

Yes. Absolutely. I look at my old AT-AT, which I have built again on the weekend, and smile.I think at the Endor Set, which I built once and then never again, and shudder how it looked like nothing. If at least they had included a green baseplate and some plants...

You know, I'm beginning to agree more and more with copyright every day. The fact of the matter is, not all parts are created equal. Some are much more expensive to create than others. Sure, a simple brick, plate, or tile is cheap to create, and we see this evidenced by the creator sets which don't contain minifigs, custom pieces, or aren't based of any licensed property. But when we look at minifigs, you have a number of speciality parts which need to be molded, printed, and sub-assembled. Then there are new parts which require new molds, and many other factors.

So to simply divided the price on the shelf by the number of parts printed on the box is as inaccurate as saying Pi is 3. Weight needs given to minifig parts, molded parts, and other rare/hard-to-find pieces/colors.

And even after all that's said and done, all you have is a number, and numbers by themselves are mere abractions. Until we assign them meaning, they're all pointless. As copyright said, the real value comes when you look at the set, see the model that is build, the figs that you get, determine the playability/collectability/displayability, and any other factors you desire from a set, then check the price and see if it matches the "value" you percieve it to have.

Seriously people, if all you're interested in is getting the most parts for you dollar, then go buy Creator sets. They're great models with ridiculously small price/part ratios. However, if what you really want is a set based off a vehicle/person/thing you saw in a Star Wars TV/Show, then you need to be prepared to pay the price.

The beauty of a LEGO MOC is not the elements that go into it, but the way those elements are put together.

Of course, even discarding the P/P ratio, there is a hitch in pricing. When prices go up sharply, I look for increased value. Most of the recent Star Wars sets haven't transmitted that "value" to me. Something like the recent Echo Base (tauntaun) set seems overpriced at 155 parts for $25. The set includes new headgear, new visors, and a tauntaun- but still seems expensive. $15 would have been a great value but (probably? perhaps?) been a loss for Lego. No business can operate like that (it's what government is for), but maybe gentler pricing ($20? $22?) would make it more palatable for a consumer like me.

Objective or subjective, the pricing on the new sets is harsher than it has been in the past. Whether it proves to be the tilting point in sales for Lego will probably not be evident to us for some time.

The Landspeeder isn't that bad, because it does come with 5 minifigs, some of which haven't been in small sets in years. I have the mantra of 1 minifig for every $10 a set is, and this goes over, so it's not a bad deal to me. Nice to see the battle packs are going to still be reasonable as well.

Honestly these aren't that bad. Seeing only the TRU markups the other day was more of a sticker shock. They're creeping up, but the ones that don't seem worth it, I just won't get for MSRP. Lego really hates that $20 price point, don't they?

I don't know - 60 bucks for less than 400 bricks is pushing it, even if there are new minifigs. It just makes me wonder what 2011 SW sets are going to cost. The price increases haven't bothered me until now. I'll still get all these sets though because i'm a sucker.

1. It would be interesting the percentage of young children to adults collecting SW sets. Kids are simply less discerning and so things like "quality" etc. just don't hit their radar. In other words, as long as there is a market, there will be sets (expensive or not). If you have kids, you know what I'm talking about - they pretty much think (when they are young) that any movie they go to is the greatest movie they've ever seen.

2. Does anyone have a breakdown of the different designations that Lego applies to its sets? They use terms like "Hard to Find" and "Exclusive," but they aren't hard to find, and they seem to be available elsewhere. I've been told several times at the Lego store that "this set is only available at the store," only to find it at TRU a day or so later. Or, something that is a Toys 'r Us exclusive is available online at Lego.com. When does exclusive mean "exclusive?"

exclusives to a store like tru/target/walmart will always be available at LEGO Shop@Home/brand retail; those sets will be designated "hard to find" on the site. items marked "exclusive" are exclusive to LEGO Shop@Home/brand retail and will usually be available through other internet channels. very rarely will those items be seen at retail stores.

Looking at these prices, I just hope that LEGO will adjust their Canadian prices to reflect more accurately the value of the CAD compared to the USD, and not just apply their usual add 33% formula to those prices. If they don't adjust their prices, I'll have to look even harder and wait even longer to get those sets at a reasonable price.

I'm also afraid that a lot of Canadian parents won't go for those inflated prices (which, overall, should be good for me because that would mean more clearance sales from stores, but bad for LEGO because it will affect sales in the long run).

These aren't nearly as bad as I thought! The MSRPs for the ARC, Freeco, TIE Defender, and Tri-fighter are what I had expected, and I had been worried that the MSRPs of the battle packs would be more like their TRURPs. The prices for the exclusives are a little lower than I had expected, or at least been worried about (or the swamp speeder, at elast, since I had figured that Luke's would be $25, at least if it wasn't a TRU exclusive).

Yeah, I hope as well for Canadians like me, we don't have to pay that much of an increase. After seeing a lot of the prices Americans paid for their sets, and then what I paid, my jaw, literally, dropped. It was way more than 33%! As well, American stores always have so many more sales and stuff going on, I guess because their economy isn't as strong as ours, but yours is still worth more.On the bright side...I'm really liking these sets though, I think 2010 will be a good year for Star Wars LEGO. Maybe (probably) not price-wise, but set wise, judging by these sets, and those blue ones that were leaked for a few days, I'll have the chance to buy so much more than all the sets I missed out on when I was younger. (AKA, too afraid to spend money in front of my parents haha)

If anybody could find actual CAD prices on these sets, that would be fantastic.

KarolRabalski wrote:Yeah, I hope as well for Canadians like me, we don't have to pay that much of an increase. After seeing a lot of the prices Americans paid for their sets, and then what I paid, my jaw, literally, dropped. It was way more than 33%! As well, American stores always have so many more sales and stuff going on, I guess because their economy isn't as strong as ours, but yours is still worth more.

Some of the msrp sets like Gold's Tooth Getaway and Power Miners Granite Grineder have been originally msrp at $11.99 in the last few months. But recently, TLG has just raised them back to $12.99 and the same goes to $24.99 sets ---> $26.99. Prices in Canada were just starting to drop but then they started going up again. Fortunatley, sets haven't raised up that much because the american curreceny dropped.

In the states$9.99 sets have been raised up to $10.99 (10% or $1 increase)$19.99 sets have been raised up to $24.99 (25% increase or $5 increase)In Canada$12.99 sets stayed the same$26.99 sets have been raised up to $29.99 ($3 increase)

Just want to point out that recently toysrus.com just jacked up most of the lego star wars sets. Hope toysrus here in canada doesnt' jack up their prices that cracy as most of those TRU prices are basically canadian msrp now.

Basically a $5-$10 additional mark up. So now pratically all of their Star Wars sets is above msrp. I bet once those sale items are over for anakin y wing, separatist shuttle and republic shuttle...... they'll jack up those sets up too.

GIR3691 wrote:The Landspeeder isn't that bad, because it does come with 5 minifigs, some of which haven't been in small sets in years. I have the mantra of 1 minifig for every $10 a set is, and this goes over

Well see that is the cause of my main complaint. When I go about judging the value of a set, excluding battlepacks, I look mainly at brick built part of the set. As the actual brick part of sets is why I still buy LEGO sets, minifigs, to me, are nothing more than an added bonus. I would much rather have more pieces or an overall better set design than an extra, exclusive minifig or two.

yankeeken wrote:Well see that is the cause of my main complaint. When I go about judging the value of a set, excluding battlepacks, I look mainly at brick built part of the set. As the actual brick part of sets is why I still buy LEGO sets, minifigs, to me, are nothing more than an added bonus. I would much rather have more pieces or an overall better set design than an extra, exclusive minifig or two.

It sounds like you could save a BUNDLE buying minifig-less Star Wars sets via Bricklink....